


she who came of water and waves

by WishingTree



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/F, Gen, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-10 18:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11132730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: Nicole has been in Purgatory for a month, and she's just about convinced herself that she's imagining this strange feeling she gets from this town, that feeling that makes the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. It's probably just unease left over from moving to a small town from such a big city.And then she goes swimming in the middle of the night, and then she meets a mermaid named Waverly Earp, and maybe her instincts weren't so far off after all.





	she who came of water and waves

**Author's Note:**

> 'real life mermaid princess' was the title of the note I found on my phone except all it said was 'tiny à la nemo’ next to a picture of waverly in her mermaid dress, so moral of the story is I should probably get more sleep

It all starts when Nicole slips into the deep end of Purgatory’s one and only pool.

 

It’s late, way too late for sensible people to be out and about, but Nicole’s next shift starts in just over an hour and she knows there’s no use in her going home and getting ready for bed when she’ll just have to head out again. How that led to her deciding to do laps of the community pool, she’s not entirely sure, but she’s here now, and it’s actually much less spooky than she expected it to be.

She kicks her feet lazily as she floats around on her back, watching the pool lights reflect strangely off the ceiling, beams casting long shadows. The splashes echo through the otherwise empty space, and she sighs, glad for a moment to enjoy the quiet. Even though it’s just barely her second month here in Purgatory, she’s quickly learned that this wasn’t a town to have much of a nightlife.

A quick shadow darts across the ceiling, disrupting the steady patterns of light reflecting off the pool’s surface, and Nicole freezes. Holding her breath, she cautiously cranes her neck to glance around the pool, but nothing else happens, and she’s still alone. She brushes it off as a trick of the light and resumes her slow kicking. She tries to get back to her previous state of relaxation, but she knows it’s probably a lost cause.

There’s another flash of something in her peripherals, and she squints in confusion, letting her legs sink down under the water to reorient herself upright. As she moves her arms back and forth, unconsciously treading water to keep her chin up, she feels a chill run over her skin that has nothing to do with the temperature of the pool.

Maybe she’ll have to rethink the spook-factor of her being here alone in the middle of the night.

She spins herself in a slow circle, cautiously scanning the empty pool around her, and starts to push herself back towards the shallow end, wanting the comfort of being able to touch the bottom. However, with her eyes focused around her, she misjudges the distance to the bottom and tries to put her foot down before she reaches the shallow end. Her foot slips fast against the bottom of the pool, sliding down the slanted part that separates the shallow end and the deep end where the floor drops down.

She gasps in surprise as her head is plunged underwater, but before she even has time to right herself, she’s grabbed around the waist. Mouth open in a silent scream, she twists frantically and struggles against whatever’s got a hold on her. The next thing she knows, her head has popped up right next to the side of the pool, in the shallowest part by the stairs, and she spins around with a gasp, arms splashing as she fumbles to get them up in front of her. Her feet slide again beneath her, and she’s submerged underwater once more.

The grip around her had been strong, and she's alone in this building, hadn’t told anyone she was coming here, and oh my god, she’s going to be eaten by a shark, she’s going to become another one of Purgatory’s ‘unexplainable deaths’, she’s going to be stuck with some horrifying vision of an axe murdering sea monster as the last thing she sees before she dies, she’s going to… 

Be face to face with a girl. A very pretty girl, with concerned eyes and long brown hair flowing delicately in the water. Nicole would describe it as mermaid hair, except the moment their eyes meet the girl surges backwards, and oh, she’s got a tail. A mermaid tail. So, yeah, okay. Apparently the literal mermaid has mermaid hair.

“Oh my god!” the girl squeaks, voice somehow coming through perfectly even though they’re both underwater. She looks just as surprised to see Nicole as Nicole is to see her, and Nicole isn't quite sure how to react to that.

Staring, Nicole only just registers her eyes starting to burn at the same time that a searing pain in her chest tells her that it’s probably time to get some oxygen into her lungs. She surfaces again with a gasp, water dripping into her eyes, and brings up a hand to hurriedly wipe at her face, breathing heavily and trying to keep the mermaid girl in her view.

However, the sudden motion seems to startle the other girl to some realization, and she starts to backpedal through the water, light flickering off her tail as it swishes through the water, and she moves much quicker than possible for an average human.

“Wait!” Nicole dives after her, but there’s a rush of water, and by the time she opens her eyes again, the mermaid is gone.

 

* * *

 

Nicole spends the next two weeks popping her head into the pool and hoping to find some confirmation of what she saw, wondering if she’s going insane. She researches as much as she can on mermaids, but it’s not like she can go start asking around town if anyone has seen one casually hanging around.

Just when she’s about convinced herself that she made the whole thing up, that it was a delusion brought on by too little sleep and too much caffeine, she sees the girl again.

It’s right outside Shorty’s, one afternoon after Nicole gets off her shift, the bar that had actually been on her list of places to check out. The girl is standing right outside, talking on the phone as she animatedly waves goodbye to the man Nicole knows is Shorty.

The girl hangs up the phone and stows it in her bag, turning to walk down the street, and Nicole hesitantly steps forward before she can leave. She fiddles with her hands on her belt, and at the last second reaches up to take the hat off her head.

“Excuse me,” Nicole says carefully, not wanting to startle her as a random stranger approaching her on the street. Brown eyes turn to meet hers, and Nicole almost forgets what she wanted to say. “You… you’re her, right? The girl in the pool?”

The girl stops in her tracks, staring at her with wide eyes as her mouth opens and closes with no words coming out, and Nicole almost winces at how awkward this is getting.

She’d like to think that this interaction could have gone a lot smoother, if she was given a bit more time to prepare herself. And wasn’t absolutely sure that this was a _mermaid_ she’d met in the Purgatory Community Center pool two weeks ago. Slightly different circumstances.

The other girl seems to find her voice then, words tumbling over each other to get out of her mouth. “No, I have – I have never seen you before, obviously. I would remember you, because you’re really pretty, and – and, you know what, let’s forget I said that part, for obvious reasons. But hah, no, nope, never seen you before, sorry!” Her face is bright red, and she’s slowly edging backwards as she babbles.

“And – and – I don’t even swim, I hate it, no one will ever find me in a swimming pool because… it’s so dangerous, you know? And so unhygienic, I mean, who knows about what other people are also using it, and – and, have I mentioned I’m terrified of water? Pssh, so, I couldn’t possibly… be…” 

Nicole continues to watch her, the rambling doing nothing except further confirming her suspicions, and the other girl slowly deflates.

“Heh,” she smiles weakly, “Don’t suppose you’d agree to just let it all go? Never mention it again?”

Nicole shuffles her feet and gives her a crooked smile as her fingers play with the brim of her hat, feeling strangely sheepish for a reason she doesn’t understand.

“I uh, I’m not usually very good at letting things like this go.”

“Things like this?” the other girl asks, tilting her head, and Nicole hears the note of intrigue, bolstering her to lift her head and meet her eyes more confidently.

“Things that interest me.”

For some reason, she starts to relax, shoulders unscrunching and grip on her bag loosening. “Okay, well… Hi. I’m Waverly Earp.” She sticks her hand out, a determined expression on her face.

“Officer Nicole Haught,” Nicole answers automatically as she returns the handshake, but she winces inwardly as Waverly’s wary look returns. “Sorry, it’s – I’m wearing the uniform, so it just – Nicole. I’m Nicole. Nicole Haught.” 

“Nicole,” Waverly repeats carefully, “Okay. Hi. I’m sorry for startling you, by the way. I didn’t mean to. I was just trying to get the hang of teleporting, and the pool’s always deserted at that time. Except, well, except for you, apparently. And – yeah, I saw you slip and kind of acted on instinct, and I’m sorry. For grabbing you like that out of nowhere.” 

“Teleporting?” Nicole says, eyes widening, and Waverly winces again.

“Ah… yes. I…” She furrows her brow, concentrating on something, and then sighs, huffing in resignation. “Okay, you already know, and for some reason I get the feeling that I can trust you.” She looks at Nicole appraisingly, and Nicole stays still as her conflict plays over her face. Eventually she settles, having decided something, and she gives Nicole a small smile, dropping her hands from her bag. “I’m a great judge of character. So… yeah. I’m a mermaid, and I can teleport between bodies of water if I know them well enough, and I would really appreciate it if you kept this to yourself.”

Nicole stares at her, amazement growing. “ _Cool_.”

Waverly groans and brings up both hands to scrub at her face. “My sister is going to kill me!” She sees Nicole’s inquisitive look and exhales. “My sister. She always said to make sure nobody else ever knew about this. Which is like, totally reasonable advice, but now that you know…”

“How about I take you out for a cup of coffee, and then you can get to know me better? Level the playing field.”

Waverly eyes her dubiously, and then nods slowly. “Okay. Okay, yeah. Lead the way, Officer.”

 

One cup of coffee turns into more, until Nicole can safely say that she’s friends with a mermaid.

 

* * *

 

“You can just leave that on the floor right there, I’ll be unpacking them all over the place anyways.” 

Nicole nods and leans over to set the box down in front of the stairs, pushing it against the wall before turning to head back outside. Several trips later, the truck is empty and the entryway of the Earp family homestead is littered with boxes as they finish hauling them in.

“Thank you for helping me bring this stuff over, by the way,” Waverly says from where she’s kneeling next to an open box, pulling out books.

“It’s no problem,” Nicole says, huffing slightly as she deposits the last one in the front hall. She stands and puts her hands on her hips, smiling brightly at Waverly. “Happy to help. You mind if I go wash my hands?”

Waverly smiles up at her, picking up her stack of books and carrying them into the kitchen. “Go for it, you know you can use whatever you want here.” 

Nicole goes to wash her hands and then goes to join her, a bemused smile playing across her lips. “You know your bathtub is full of water, right?” Nicole says as she walks into the kitchen, hooking her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the bathroom.

“Oh yeah, it’s so I can always teleport home. It’s seriously convenient when I don’t feel like driving back at night.”

Nicole nods in agreement, not sure if she should laugh at the absurdity that is her life now. She kind of wishes she could teleport into her bathtub too.

Perching on one of the chairs, she observes the way books are now scattered across the table. “Wow, you’ve really got some old stuff here,” Nicole comments as she picks up a book at random, turning it over in her hands. It’s the kind of old tome that they have behind glass in research libraries, the ones nobody is allowed to touch except the archivist.

“I’ve been collecting them! From all over, anything that even hints at being serious about mermaids. These ones here, I got them from an old collector, even he didn’t know how to read them. It took me years to figure out enough to be able to translate the language. Or like, enough of the language to maybe understand the gist of what it’s talking about.”

Nicole sits back, impressed. “So you’re like, insanely smart then. That’s _amazing_ , learning that alone.”

Waverly blushes at the compliment and flips her hair over her shoulder bashfully. “I’m just trying to figure this all out. I learned that my mom had an affair, so – I’m only half an Earp, really. Wynonna’s my half sister. And my theory is… whoever my biological father is, he’s the one I can thank for the tail.” 

“Makes sense,” Nicole muses, reaching for another one of the books laid out across the table. Curiously, she traces a finger over the spiraling insignia on the cover, something about it drawing her attention. She looks up to ask about it, but then Waverly squeaks and almost knocks the book out of Nicole’s hands when she lunges for it.

Surprised, Nicole lifts her hands away, wondering what was wrong.

“Sorry, it's – this one is super old, and delicate, and I'm gonna just go put it away, because…” Waverly stutters as she tried to close the book properly and arrange it under her arm as Nicole watches her curiously, and Waverly blushes red. “Not implying that you’ll damage it! It’s just… something I’m working on. A part of my research,” Waverly falters, holding the book to her chest. “It’s... important.” 

“Okay,” Nicole nods agreeably, not liking the distress that’s beginning to emerge on her face. She’d never force Waverly to show her that book, whatever it is.

Waverly hesitantly lays it onto the table, keeping a hand on the cover, and Nicole leans up on her arms, tilting her head and changing the subject.

“So how does this work?” Nicole asks, genuinely curious, “The – mermaid thing. If you want to talk about it, that is.” 

Waverly shoots her a grateful look and crosses her legs. “I need to be completely submerged underwater for eight seconds for the transformation to happen. Other than that, I’m just a normal human, as far as I can tell.

“I think I’ve been like this my whole life. I just, I don’t know, never took a bath until I was a teenager, my parents always got us to take showers instead, and it’s pretty easy to avoid going swimming around here.”

She’s excited to talk about this, Nicole recognizes, and then it hits her that Waverly probably hasn’t had too many people too talk to about this secret of hers, if any.

“It’s really awesome, actually. Agh, I wish I could… show you.” Her eyes are shining with a glimmer of insecurity, and Nicole sees the echo of something very lonely.

“Well, maybe we can go swimming together, sometime.”

Waverly gives her a soft half–smile, saying, “I think I’d like that.”

“Me too,” Nicole echoes.

Waverly holds her gaze for a moment before blinking and looking down. “Anyways, I better go put this away,” Waverly sighs, picking up the old book at her elbow and standing.

“It’s okay, Waverly,” Nicole puts a gentle hand on her arm, more to reassure than to stop her. “After all, you know what they say – someday I’ll be part of your world?” She shoots Waverly a silly half–smile, “Or should I go with darling it’s better under the sea?”

That startles a loud laugh out of her and she whirls off, humming the tune to the Little Mermaid song.

“Oh, can I offer you something to eat, or drink?” Waverly calls back as she ruffles around the other room. Just as Nicole opens her mouth to politely decline, the sound of footsteps stomping up the front porch distracts her. Waverly reenters the kitchen at the same time as somebody comes in through the front door, the sound reverberating through the house.

“Waverly, we talked about this,” a new voice approaches, sighing in irritation, “You’ve got to stop bringing home – ” The door bangs open, revealing a dangerous-looking woman dressed in jeans and leather, with dark hair and the echo of a smirk across her face. She stops before fully entering the kitchen, one hand on the butt of a gun Nicole can see sticking out the holster she’s wearing.

“Woah, okay. I was going say no more sea turtles, but if you’ve moved on to collecting hot chicks then that’s a different story.” 

“Hi Wynonna,” Waverly says warmly, going over to give her a hug. Wynonna returns it, but otherwise doesn’t move, keeping her eyes on Nicole. Waverly steps back and goes to her seat on the other side of the table, and Wynonna steps forward, eyeing Nicole critically. “So did you and Dolls find anything?" Waverly asks as she takes her seat again, shuffling some papers around to make room for Wynonna to sit next to her.

“Not quite, but we’re getting really close to that one group of… escaped convicts. We are closing in on those criminals, absolutely.” 

Waverly nods, turning to Nicole and explaining, “This is my sister, Wynonna. She works with a special branch of the government, operating out of the Sheriff’s office.” 

“Oh,” Nicole says, surprised she hasn’t run in to her before if she was the one working with Deputy Marshal Dolls. Wynonna squints at her as she sits down, and Nicole resists the urge to start fidgeting.

“You some type of shark or something? Whale lady she freed from a fishing net?” 

Nicole tries to keep the bewildered expression off her face, intimidated. “Ahh… no?” 

“Hm. Who are you then?” 

Thrown off guard by the intensity of her stare, Nicole flounders. “Haught,” she finally gets out.

“Yeah, yeah, I called you hot, it’s ‘cause you are, you can get over it now.” 

“No, my name. It’s Haught. Nicole Haught.” 

Wynonna blinks at her. “For real?”

Nicole can only shrug uncertainly. “…Yes?” 

“Well that’s neat.” She leans back and makes a motion like she’s going to swing her feet up onto the table, but a glare from Waverly stops her and she only rolls her eyes instead, turning to address Nicole again.

“So you’re not a selkie? Seahorse?” Wynonna leans her elbows on the table and rests her chin on one fist, “… Clownfish?” 

"No? I'm a… cop?” Nicole tries her hardest not to make it sound like a question, but she doesn't really succeed. Are all of these things really options? And Nicole had thought mermaid was as far out as it got.

Wynonna sits back in her chair and squints at her again. "Huh. Damn, Waves, that might actually be worse," she mutters, and Waverly scoffs, shoving at her shoulder.

“Be nice, Wynonna. She’s my friend, she’s helping me with research.” 

Wynonna’s gaze suddenly sharpens, and Nicole feels herself pale, leaning back involuntarily. 

“So you do know, then.” 

“I do,” Nicole steels herself, lifting her chin. “And I would never endanger her.”

Wynonna sizes her up, and then slowly sits back. “Alright, Haughtstuff. I’ll still be watching you, but alright.” She crosses her arms and this time does swing her boots up onto the table, but when Waverly protests she drops them again and nods exasperatedly, “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m sorry!”

 

* * *

 

Sometimes, instead of meeting at the homestead for their standard research date, or at the café, Waverly texts Nicole to meet her at the pool. She likes to show off what tricks with the tail she’s taught herself, and Nicole is glad to be the captive audience.

Waverly is already in the pool when Nicole gets there, darting from one side to the other, and when she sees Nicole she waves, beckoning her closer.

“Come on, vanishing practice!” 

She gives Nicole a cheeky grin, and in the blink of an eye she’s gone, leaving Nicole with the echo of a laugh.

Nicole puts her bag down and toes off her shoes and socks, going to sit by the side of the pool and wait for her to reappear. Hanging her hand down, she lets her fingers trail along the surface of the water and watches the ripples expand, disturbing the otherwise calm pool. All of a sudden, Waverly is in front of her, face inches away from her fingers, and she beams at Nicole from underwater. A couple weeks ago, Nicole probably would have started away with a scream, but she’s gotten used to the sudden appearances, and now she only sticks her hand further into the water and taps on Waverly’s nose.

“It’s pretty cool, right?” Waverly grins at her and surfaces, pushing her hair away from her face and swimming so she’s next to where Nicole is sitting. She pops up and crosses her arms on the side, resting her chin on them as she beams up at her. Nicole smiles at the proud look on her face, and she gives her an impressed nod, not trying to contain the awe on her face.

“Oh, absolutely, it’s still the coolest thing ever.”

Waverly laughs, planting both hands on the side and pushing herself out of the pool, her tail fading as she leaves the water. Dripping wet and painting a very attractive picture in her swimsuit, she steps away from the edge and Nicole picks up the towel waiting on the bench, passing it to her and smiling again.

Waverly shivers once, shaking it open and swinging it around to settle over her shoulders. She gets quiet, shuffling to adjust the towel around herself, and looks up at Nicole through her eyelashes, wet strands of hair falling into her face. Nicole watches her quietly, letting her go at her own pace with whatever this is, letting the silence stretch on.

“I guess I’d better change, then,” Waverly finally says in a hushed voice, not breaking the stillness that’s settled over the entire pool area.

“I’ll be here,” Nicole answers just as quietly, returning her smile as she picks up her stack of clothes and disappears through the door to the dressing rooms.

Nicole sits down again and leans back on her hands, head tilted back to watch the light play off the ceiling.

A couple minutes later, Waverly comes out of the dressing room, fully dressed and holding her towel over her arm. Her wet hair is in a loose bun, and Nicole stands to meet her.

Waverly has a determined look on her face, but just as she opens her mouth to speak a metal door clangs open in the distance, and they both jump. “Was that the front door?” Waverly asks in a hushed voice, but before Nicole can say anything they get their answer in the form of three men suddenly standing at the only entrance to the pool area.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here boys!” 

Instinctively Nicole whirls around and stretches her arm out, putting herself in front of Waverly. All three of them are bigger than she is, hulking forms towering menacingly above her head, and at least two of them are visibly armed. They’re all leering, teeth bared, and for a moment Nicole swears their eyes flash red.

“The littlest Earp, all defenseless.”

“Must be our lucky day, boss!”

Nicole sizes up the space between them and makes a mental map of the room around them, but she knows there’s only one entrance, and they’ll never make the emergency exit on the other side with the delayed lock mechanism slowing them down.

“Call Wynonna,” Waverly says, voice shaking as she backs up, simultaneously pulling Nicole along and trying to squirm in front of her. “You have to call Wynonna, she’ll know what to do.”

“Shouldn’t we call the cops?” Nicole whispers as she keeps stepping backwards, but Waverly shakes her head vehemently. These men are dressed like locals, but they feel weird, something about them other than their general threat level making Nicole’s skin prickle. One of them has a odd accent, like he’s doing a bad imitation of an old west character, and Nicole wishes she had her gun.

“We all know how unsafe public pools can be, after all. No lifeguard on duty, such a pity.” 

“Why don’t you just come here Earp, we’ll make it quick.”

“It’ll only hurt for a second!”

“ _Call her_ ,” Waverly says urgently, risking a glance at her while they back away. “Nicole, please. I don’t want to leave you alone here.” The last part is whispered, and that’s when it finally clicks in Nicole’s mind.

They’re planning to drag Waverly towards the water. The water where, once she’s fully submerged, she’ll be able to teleport herself away. Teleport herself home.

They keep advancing, and Nicole’s mind races.

“Come here,” one of the men growls as he lunges for Waverly, and Nicole yells when his hand lands on her arm. Another one casually backhands her and she withdraws, flipping her loose hair out of her face and breathing heavily while she curses how smoothly they’d managed to separate her from Waverly. The third, the one the others were calling boss, stepped between them, one hand on his gun, and Nicole presses her lips together, glaring at him.

“Oh, such a terrible story,” the man says mockingly as one of his friends drags Waverly towards the water, “Poor little Waverly, alone in the pool, drowned. Such a tragic death.” 

Everything in her is screaming to charge at them, to get their hands off of Waverly, but Waverly is giving her a desperately warning look, even as she’s being pulled.

Nicole waits until the one aiming at her is more focused on watching Waverly, and then she tries to discreetly turn her body so she’s angled away from them, pulling her phone out of her pocket and trying to type Wynonna’s name behind her back.

She fights to keep still, knowing exactly what Waverly’s planning, but it doesn’t make it any easier to see the way they're manhandling her, Waverly struggling all the way. Nicole thinks she clicks on the right number, trying to slip her phone into her pocket backwards so Wynonna will hopefully piece together what’s happening, but it’s getting harder and harder to stay calm.

The man holding on to Waverly’s wrist leans down to whisper something, making Waverly’s face twist with revulsion. She whimpers in pain, and all of Nicole’s restraint is immediately gone.

She jumps forward and dodges the first swing from the boss, lashing out with her fist, and she manages to get in a solid hit to his jaw. She whirls away, grabbing a wrist and sending her elbow into another’s nose, and there’s a satisfying crunch before she ducks again and kicks at the third’s knee. She lands a few more punches, but then something sweeps her legs out from under her at the same time as a fist cracks across her face, sending her to the floor.

Nicole hits the ground hard, breathing heavily and rolling onto her back, but before she can push herself up there’s a gun pointed at her face. Dimly, she registers her phone clattering onto the floor next to her head, and hopes the screen is facing downwards so they don’t realize it was calling somebody. She controls her breathing, trying to keep Waverly and all three of them in her line of vision, as well as watch for any sign of the trigger being pulled.

She grits her teeth, eyes darting back to Waverly and then flashing to the barrel of the gun. Logically, the only endangered one in this situation is Nicole herself.

Waverly screams, a list of threats Nicole doesn’t quite catch, but it’s enough to get some of their attention away from Nicole.

“ – And my sister is coming for me, you bastards, I swear to god – ”

“Shut up!”

“You won’t get away with this!” Waverly spits fiercely, glaring at him, but the man only chuckles.

“Well, I don’t know about that, little lady. Either way, I reckon you won’t be around to see it.” 

Nicole hears a quiet click before Wynonna’s voice comes through the tinny speaker on her phone, and at least something here is going according to plan. Thankfully she seems to have heard Waverly yelling, because Nicole doesn’t think she can get away with saying a whole explanation out loud.

“Pool,” she breathes, craning her neck towards the phone and trying to inch her way towards it. “Pool, please.”

“Nicole! Waverly? _Shit_! Nicole? I’m coming, okay? I’m just at the Sheriff’s station, I’ll be there in two seconds, just hold on.” 

One of the men turns back and levels his gun at her face again, and Nicole stops moving, lying flat on her back and holding her hands up by her head as she presses her feet into the ground.

“Wh – why are you doing this?” she asks, trying to stall for time. At the pool’s edge, even Waverly has stopped struggling, watching Nicole with wide eyes.

“Well, I’m not inclined to explain myself to a human now, am I,” he jeers, and Nicole furrows her brow a little bit. If they aren’t human, are they mermaids too? But they couldn’t be, not if their plan was to drown Waverly. They would know it was a stupid idea.

Without taking his eyes or his gun off of Nicole, the man turns his head and says, “Do it.” 

Waverly shrieks again, and Nicole jerks, instinct guiding her upwards before she can stop herself. The man jabs his gun at her warningly and Nicole tenses and falls back to the floor.

There’s a splash and the sound of a struggle, and then Nicole secretly smiles at the sounds of confusion coming from the other two men.

“She flipped herself in boss!”

“Well go get her and make sure to finish the job!”

“There’s… it’s…”

“Do you see her?”

“Where’d she go?!” 

“What’s going on, you dumbasses?” the one holding the gun on Nicole roars.

“She’s… she’s gone, boss.” 

“What do you mean, _gone_?”

To Nicole’s disappointment, his grip on the gun never wavers, not giving her the opportunity to try and disarm him.

“I’m telling you, she fell into the pool, and now… it’s empty.” 

He snarls and narrows his eyes, the unhinged look becoming more apparent. “We’ll find the bitch. In the meantime…” He turns back to Nicole and cocks the gun, lifting it to aim between her eyes.

Three gunshots sound from over her head, and Nicole squeezes her eyes shut instinctively, hands still up. The crack hangs in the air, accompanied by a strange screeching hissing combined with muted growling, and Nicole waits, whole body braced in preparation for the bullets.

But the pain never comes, and when a couple more seconds pass and nothing happens, she slowly cracks an eye open.

There’s some kind of fiery hell portal right there in the middle of the poolside tile, and she thinks she sees a man getting sucked into it before everything is suddenly gone.

“What?” she breathes, but her tolerance for the strange and supernatural has gone up exponentially since she arrived in this town. 

The click of a gun echoes through the room, and she hurriedly twists and pushes herself into a crouch, seeing Wynonna standing over her and lowering her gun from where it was aimed at… the spot where the men had been standing, just moments before.

“Wynonna…?” 

“I’ll explain later,” Wynonna says brusquely, holstering the old gun Nicole had seen on her at the homestead. “Let’s go. Did Waverly beam herself back home?” 

Nicole scrambles to her feet, brushing herself off and running after Wynonna, waiting with the door open for her. “I – I think so. I’m pretty sure. She vanished as soon as she got into the pool.”

Wynonna nods and takes off running, Nicole right behind her. They burst through the front doors, and there’s a police cruiser parked illegally at the front entrance, completely crooked with one wheel on the curb of the sidewalk.

“Where’d you get the cruiser?” Nicole asks weakly as she feels at the back of her head where she’d hit the ground, only very distantly recognizing that Wynonna generally isn’t supposed to be driving a police car.

“The station.” 

“Did somebody give it to you?”

“…It was unlocked!” Wynonna says defensively, opening the passenger door for Nicole and then racing to the back, flipping open the trunk and rifling through it.

Nicole slides into the passenger seat at the same time Wynonna gets into the drivers side, both of them slamming the doors shut at the same time.

“Here,” she throws her an ice pack, “For your face.”

“Thanks,” Nicole fumbles the catch, and Wynonna nods distractedly, quickly starting the car.

“Now come on, Haughtstuff. Let’s go check on Waverly,” Wynonna says tersely, starting the car and peeling out of the parking lot before Nicole manages to put her seatbelt on. “Why are you all beaten up if they were just going to dump Waverly into the water?” Wynonna barely checks the road before pulling out onto the main road, and Nicole winces.

“I may have made a… tactical error. I tried to take them on my own. Kind of stupid. Didn’t change anything.”

“…Sound like the exact dumb reckless thing I would’ve pulled,” is all Wynonna says, and there’s an unexpected note of approval in it.

Nicole keeps quiet during the ride, chest tight as they speed towards the homestead and, hopefully, towards Waverly. At the speed Wynonna is driving, she cuts the normally half hour drive in half easily, and Nicole reminds herself to be nauseous later.

Parking the car just as haphazardly as she had at the community center, Wynonna jumps out and slams the door, only pausing a moment to check if Nicole can get out on her own before she rushes towards the house.

Before she gets there, the door opens and Waverly pokes her head out, taking a few trembling steps and then falling into Wynonna’s open arms, burying her head in her shoulder. Nicole stays a respectable distance away, looking down at her shoes as she limps her way forward, and doesn’t realize when Waverly comes towards her too.

Waverly wraps her arms around her tightly, and Nicole hugs back, completely uncaring about the fact that Waverly is dripping wet.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” she mumbles into Nicole’s shoulder, and Nicole hugs her tighter.

They pull away from each other when Wynonna starts to shuffle them inside, and Waverly shivers, plucking at her wet clothes as the door closes behind them.

“I’m – I’m just gonna go shower real quick,” Waverly points at the staircase and gives them a tired smile. She squeezes Nicole’s wrist, “Be right back.”

She disappears up the stairs, and Nicole groans as she starts to feel the fight catching up with her, turning to trail through the house after Wynonna. It’s quiet as they both listen to the water of the shower start running, and they end up in the living room.

“Okay, but what the hell.” Nicole addresses Wynonna, throwing her arms up and ignoring the twinge coming from what will probably be some truly spectacular bruising. “Nobody told me anything about – about – crazy… disappearing hitmen coming after her.”

Wynonna crosses her arms and quirks an eyebrow at her. “You mean you didn’t have a fun time with the best and brightest hellspawn Purgatory has to offer?”

“Wynonna,” she says irately, “I have had a _really_ long night, so can you please just cut the crap and give me my explanation?”

Nicole realizes she’s unintentionally crowding Wynonna, and she exhales harshly and turns around, running her hand through her hair. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” she says tersely, berating herself. “Got a bit of – pent-up energy I need to work off. But just – who were those guys?” 

Wynonna holds up a finger as she downs whatever is in the glass she’s holding, and Nicole wonders where she got the alcohol from.

“They were Revenants. Demons, basically, and I sent them back to hell.” 

“Back to hell,” Nicole repeats, glancing at Wynonna’s old-timey gun and then raising an eyebrow at her.

Wynonna shrugs. “This town is full of them.” 

“So Purgatory is overrun with demons trying to kill your mermaid sister?!”

“Oh, no, the demon thing and the mermaid thing are separate,” Wynonna says flippantly, like it’s the most normal sentence in the world. She flops down onto the couch, sighing as she toes off her boots and puts her feet up on the coffee table.

“What.”

“Come sit down, I don’t want you passing out on me or anything, Haughtshot. And the demons were trying to get to me, actually. Not Waverly.”

“What.” 

“Yeah, the demonic curse is an Earp family thing, nothing to do with Waverly being a mermaid.” 

Nicole blinks, and then blinks again. “Alright, can – can you start this whole thing over a little bit?” 

 

And that’s when Nicole learns the story of Wyatt Earp and his resurrected demonic outlaws.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, after a breakfast that’s more a delightful mess of pancakes and chaos than a proper meal, Nicole settles in to hear the last part of the results of Waverly’s mermaid research.

Waverly lays out a long piece of paper on the table, smoothing it down self–consciously and then brandishing her hands at it. Nicole leans forward with interest, shooting Waverly an encouraging look, and Waverly only gives her a half smile, sitting back and playing with the ends of her hair.

It’s a printed photograph of some kind of scroll, stained and yellow with age, and Nicole leans closer to examine it.

“Hey, this is the same symbol that was on the book from before!” She points to it at the top of the page, as well as the few repeats scattered below it. Waverly nods, and Nicole looks back down. “I… can’t read this,” Nicole says as she tries to scan the page, not recognizing anything on it.

“Yeah, it’s the um, ancient language of whatever. I don’t even know its name. That symbol is some family crest. But this is, it’s a – letter. Telling the story of… a lost princess. _The_  lost princess.”

Nicole looks up in surprise, eyes widening, and Waverly continues, "Best as I can tell, somebody stole the king’s daughter before she was even born,” Waverly says as she runs her fingers over the words. “I think – I mean, I know how stupid it sounds, but I think…”

Wynonna comes crashing into the room, socked feet sliding on the floor and still wearing her pyjamas. “Guys, Dolls found them,” she announces breathlessly, hands shooting out to catch herself when she very nearly bowls right into the back of the couch. “The group who decided going after my little sister was a good way to get to me, he found them.”

“How does Dolls know about this?” Waverly asks, already dropping the paper standing, moving towards the stairs while Nicole jumps to her feet.

“I filled him in last night, let’s go, let’s go!” 

 

* * *

 

So, it all starts when Nicole slips into the deep end of Purgatory’s one and only pool, and it’s shaping up to look like it ends with Nicole fighting demons with a mermaid princess.

 

Dolls shows up with a duffle bag full of supplies, dropping it on the floor in front of the staircase and then futilely trying to stop Wynonna from rifling through the extra firepower. Waverly comes downstairs holding her shotgun, and she looks exceptionally murderous for someone so small.

Nicole’s phone rings in her pocket, and Wynonna waves a hand at her, “Hurry up and answer that, Haught, we’re moving out soon.” 

Nicole grabs it and glances at the screen before answering it. “Hey, Mom! Um, this isn’t really a good time, I’m sorry, can I call you back tonight?” 

Her mother laughs, her voice always a comfort to hear. “Of course, darling. But quick, just one question before you go! Are you liking that new town of yours? I worry about you, so far away from all of us.” 

A slow smile spreads across Nicole’s face, and she wants to laugh as well.

“Yeah, Mom,” she says into her phone as she watches Waverly try to wrangle a bulletproof vest over her head without letting go of her shotgun, bickering with Wynonna all the while, “Yeah, I really like it here.”

 


End file.
